Other Editing Features

Grouping Objects

It can be convenient to group objects so they can be moved and changed as a
single unit. To group several objects together:

1) Select the objects.

2) Click the "group" button on the tool bar, or select group from the menu
("Object", "Group").

Removing the Fill and Stroke Properties from Objects

It is sometimes necessary to remove the "fill" or "stroke" properties from an
object. The "stroke" is the outline of an object, while the "fill" is the
interior colour. If an object has a fill or stroke already set, those settings
will over ride the ones set at a higher level. Also, it is sometimes desirable
for background art to have either no fill or else no stroke visible (if there
is both no fill and no stroke, then the object will be invisible).

However, setting the fill or stroke to "none" is not the same as simply
removing it. When the fill or stroke are removed ("unset"), the object can
inherit properties from outer levels (if any are present). When fill or stroke
are set to "none", then the fill or stroke are disabled for that object and
cannot be inherited from outer levels.

To remove the fill or stroke:

Enable the fill and stroke menu ("Object", "Fill and Stroke").

Select the object.

Select either the "Fill" or "Stroke Paint" tab.

Select "unset paint" (this should be a question mark icon).

To set them to "none", perform the same steps as above, except for the final
step select "none" instead of "unset" (this should be an "X" icon).

Editing Hints

When editing drawings, it is usually convenient to turn off the background
layer. This will allow you to select drawing objects without interference
from the background rectangle. Don't forget to turn the background back
on when you are finished editing.

If your background rectangle is the same colour as the editor background,
use the page properties to turn on the drawing border. This makes it easy
to see the edge of the drawing when you are aligning your drawing objects.

Double check whether you have the correct layers turned on when you are
finished with a drawing. These layer selections determine the default
appearance of the drawing when the web page starts up.

When you are about to add clip art objects to a drawing, make sure you have
selected the correct layer as the current layer. If you have the wrong layer
selected, your objects will end up on the wrong layer.

Give your ids meaningful names so that you can more readily remember what
the do later.